ESEE EXPAT Darien Machete with Nylon Sheath by ESEE Knives

Makes clearing easy. Slices, dices, and takes a beating. It’s a hard use ranch machete that has yet to fail me, and I’ve put it through a lot. Keeps its edge remarkable well.Others have mentioned that the sheath is terrible, and it’s true. It falls out and feels like a universal sheath. Other esee sheaths are terrific, and this one is terrible. Still, though, the blade itself is ergonomic, tough, sharp and easy to use in heavy brush, giving it a 5 star in my book- but do be careful using the sheath. It will absolutely fall out

As a soldier I was in the jungle plenty. Never did like machetes much, so I haven't owned one in a long time. Decided to try this out to see if I was missing anything. Turns out I was. I generally go out into the woods a lot for camping trips. I have a lot of big knives. I have hatchets. I have tomahawks. This machete pretty much replaces them all. It's not going to replace an axe or a saw, but this blade will do everything else pretty well. Paired with a Mora, you can't go wrong. Lightweight easy to carry system that doesn't beat your leg up while walking and doesn't try to pull your pants down all day. One stop fire making system. Chop, baton, curls, shavings and ferro rod striker. Curls and shaves just as good or better than my Mora. Easy to sharpen. No issues whatsoever. Some people might complain about the canvas sheath, but this machete was meant to be in the jungle. If you haven't spent time in the jungle, leather rots out really quick there. A leather sheath wouldn't last 6 months tops. Canvas will and doesn't retain water, and it's really light. This is an excellent addition to a bushcraft setup, and it is as close to the "one tool" I have found yet. If you are on a budget this machete and a Mora is about 100 bucks and is really pretty much all you will need unless you plan on building a house. On the last 5 outings my tomahawk and hatchet never came out of the pack. Big knives it has replaced include BK9, SP10, SP5, SP53, BK7, RAT7, Trailmaster, Recon Scout, Hudson Bay, and a few custom blades. It really is that good in my opinion. Hope this helps.

I bought this for a hiking trip in the Appalachian mountains this weekend. It didn't get a ton of use, but was handy when it did. It feels great in hand, swings easily, and made short work of branches and thorny vines. It rained on the trip, and the blade and sheath got soaked. There was some rust on the blade the next morning, but it was very easy to clean off. The sheath does not hold the blade snug, even with the strap. In fact the strap seems to do nothing. I cut my thumb picking the sheath and blade up when the blade slid out a couple of inches. It can be avoided if very careful, but I feel the snap strap should be more secure. I like the machete enough that I ordered a custom Kydex sheath for it though.

Fantastic machete! I’ve lived in the jungle and owned many machetes. This machete is not only well made, its design is fast, light and nimble. You can use this machete in confined vegetation for clearing brush and building shelters. It also can be used like a knife for fine tasks. Love this thing, highly recommended. Planning to bring it on an Amazon jungle expedition.

It's a great machete, small enough to pack and take on a hike, clearing brush is easy with how sharp it is out of the box. Performance is well surpassed my expectations. I split a log using this machete, saw it visually bend while batoning and just snap back to perfectly straight after. I have even chopped a 7" tree down with this machete, took some work, but it's very capable. It's so good, I am considering buying a second one. Oh and the warranty is outstanding, which is why initially bought this product. if you have ever held an ESEE product, you know it's quality and meant for hard use.

I'm a serious knife guy. I'll tell you this, if someone trashes this blade, they shouldn't be trusted with scissors. Sheath is questionable. Buy it and thank me later. The Hipp has been pleased. Act accordingly.

the machete works well, though I've used better machetes that cost less. It is still a worth purchase as far as the actual machete. The egos leave a bit to be desired.Don't trust the sheath. Even with the retaining strap in place the machete can slide out of the sheath and it doesn't have to be completely inverted to free fall from the sheath.I was moving two machetes on a shelf in my garage and the Darien slid out and cut my palm pretty severely.trash the sheath immediately and don't trust the thing, or customize it yourself so the machete can't slide out.

I used my belt sander to make the spine 90 degrees, used a leather strop with compound, this thing shaves hair off my arm, sharper than some of my knives, this is a great machete. Handle is very comfortable and you can get a wicked edge on this thing. The sheath does not hold the machete in and is potentially unsafe without modification. I added some additional leather straps with snaps to hold it in but you may want to upgrade this isn’t the future, would be nice is Esee modified this to address this.Update: i found this to be easier to use with smaller branches than a hatchet, edge stays. Razor sharp and does not roll. Excellent knife, my $200 fixed blades stay in their sheath while this thing works! Unbelievable!